320 SNAKES 



poison from the fangs, which corrupts his blood and makes it j 

 stink horribly, or whether his body be crushed to mummy andi 

 swallowed by a Python." 



The kingly Jiboya {Boa constrictor) inhabits the dry and 

 sultry localities of the Brazilian forests, where he generally 

 conceals himself in crevices and hollows in parts but little 

 frequented by man, and sometimes attains a length of thirty 

 feet. To catch his prey he ascends the trees, and lurks, hidden 

 in the foliage, for the unfortunate agutis, pacas, and capybaras, 

 whom their unlucky star may lead within his reach. When 

 full-^rown he seizes the passing deer ; but in spite of his large 

 size he is but little feared by the natives, as a single blow of a 

 cudgel suffices to kill him. Prince Maximilian of Neu Wied 

 tells us that the experienced hunter laughs when asked whether 

 the Jiboya attacks and devours man. 



The Sucuriaba, Anaconda, or Water Boa {Eunectes 7}iUTinus), 

 as it is variously named, attains still larger dimensions than 

 the constrictor, as some are said to have been found of a length 

 of forty feet. It inhabits the large rivers, lakes, and marshy 

 grounds of tropical America, and passes most of its time in 

 the water, now reposing on a sand-bank, with only its head 

 above the surface of the stream, now rapidly swimming like an 

 eel, or abandoning itself to the current of the river. 



Often, also, it suns itself on the sandy margin of the stream, or 

 patiently awaits its prey, stretched out upon some rock or fallen 

 tree. With sharp eye it observes all that swims in the waters 

 as well as all that flies over them, or all that comes to the banks 

 to quench its thirst ; neither fish nor aquatic bird is secure from 

 the swiftness of its attack, and woe to the capybara that 

 comes within the grasp of its folds. Such is its voracity, 

 that Firmin (" Histoire Naturelle de Surinam ") found in the 

 stomach of an Anaconda a large sloth, an Iguana nearly four 

 feet long, and a tolerably-sized Ant-bear, all three nearly in the 

 same state as when they were swallowed — a proof that their 

 capture had taken place within a short time. As is common Iv 

 the case with reptiles, the water-boa is very tenacious of litr, 

 and though the head may be nearly severed from the trunk, the 

 entrails taken out of the body, and the skin detached, it will 

 still move about for a considerable time. 



The boas principally inhabit America, although some species 



